Tommaseo, Niccolò
Tommaseo, Niccolò
(nēk-kōlô` tōm-mäzā`ō), 1802–74, Italian poet and critic, b. Sibenik, Dalmatia. In addition to poetry, novels, and literary criticism, he wrote well in history, philosophy, lexicography, and philology. He was perhaps most distinguished as a philologist, and his Dizzionario dei sinonimi (1830) is still in use. Una serva (1837), stories in verse, is among the best of Italian romantic poetry. His attacks on the Austrian rule of Italy resulted in a long exile, interrupted by participation in the unsuccessful Revolution of 1848 in Venice.Tommaseo, Niccolò
(pen name of Niccolò Tomašić). Born Oct. 9, 1802, in Šibenik, Dalmatia; died May 1, 1874, in Florence. Italian writer, philologist, and political figure. Participant in the Risorgimento.
Tommaseo was educated in Padua. In 1848 he took part in the republican government of Venice. After the revolution was suppressed in 1849 he emigrated, returning to Italy in 1854. Tommaseo wrote the poetry collections Confessions (1836) and Poetic Reminiscences (1838) and the historical novel Faith and Beauty (1840). These works, permeated with patriotic and religious motifs, reflect a quest for moral perfection. Tommaseo also collected examples of folk poetry. Other works by Tommaseo include the philological studies Commentary to The Divine Comedy (1837) and Civil History in Literature (1872) and the Dictionary of the Italian Language (vols. 1–7, 1858–79). In addition, Tommaseo wrote studies on philosophy and education and memoirs.
WORKS
Poesie eprose, vols. 1–2. Turin, 1966.REFERENCES
Poluiakhtova, I. K. Istoriia ital’ianskoi literatury XIX veka (epokha Risordzhimento). Moscow, 1970.Borlenghi, A. La poesia popolare italiana dell’800 e le raccolte del Tommaseo. Milan [1965].
Croce, B. “N. Tommaseo.” In La letteratura della nuova Italia, vol. 1. Bari, 1967.
I. K. POLUIAKHTOVA